San Giovanni Apostolo et Evangelistae

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  A Renaissance doorway opens into a paged court across which the far side of the building is seen.

• Signatures

  The Butterfly, at lower right.

• Label

  A masterpiece of Venetian Renaissance architecture, San Giovanni Apostolo e Evangelista is a scuola (meeting-and prayerhouse) for one of the five great fraternities into which Venetians historically banded together. Whistler stood outside the scuola, using the famous fifteenth-century carved, marble entry-screen to frame the distant building.

• Provenance

  To 1902

  Sir William Burrell (1861-1958), to 1902 [1]

  From 1902 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Sir William Burrell in 1902 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 23, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change (November 18, 2023 to May 4, 2024)

  Whistler in Venice: The Pastels (January 19 to June 15, 2003)

  James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and the Landscape (May 11, 1984 to February 5, 1985)

  Whistler Pastels and Water Colors (July 1 to July 31, 1974)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 10 and 11 (February 25, 1956 to November 3, 1959)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Paintings and Drawings (December 14, 1955 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Works of Whistler (September 22, 1947 to April 11, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Watercolors, Oil Paintings, and Pastels (January 20, 1944 to October 13, 1947)

  Whistler Pastels and Drawings, Re-arranged and some additions (January 7, 1924 to January 20, 1944)

  American Paintings, Pastels, and Water Colors, and Drawings. J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to January 7, 1924)

  Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler (May 1905)

  Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler (February 23 to March 22, 1904)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Sir William Burrell (1861-1958)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Drawing

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s, 1870s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Burrell, William

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art, Store front

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Drawings